


Look at us

by aerobesk



Series: Harry Potter Au [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fluff, HP AU, Harry Potter AU, Humor, M/M, Multichapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 17:39:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1193871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerobesk/pseuds/aerobesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Suave Slytherin Keeper Gavin Free may or may not have set his sights on hot tempered Gryffindor Michael Jones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Michael sighed, trudging across the lawns with Ray towards their first Herbology lesson of 5th year. He had never been very good with the subject, especially because Professor Haywood was a Slytherin, but his fellow Gryffindor had no trouble with the subject, somehow helping Michael pass every year so far. They reached the greenhouses and Michael sighed again. This year they got to take it with the Slytherins. Woo hoo.

The two entered and stood next to each other among the small throng of red and gold. The other corner was filled with green and silver, and Michael sneered as he saw a familiar sandy brown mop of messy hair peeking over the other heads.

Lindsay walked over then, distracting Michael from the object of his distain. After a while Professor Haywood walked in and the class went silent.

“Hello class, I am Professor Haywood, head of Slytherin house, etcetera, etcetera, you’ve know me for five years, lets get something done.”

Professor Haywood was one of the more exotic of the batch of teachers that year. He was a carnivore, caring too much for plants to eat them. When asked about it by a pair of 3rd years, he had answered with “I love the taste of animal blood, but plant blood isn’t nearly as delicious.” He had walked away smiling, and both of the girls had refused to take his class again. He dressed in tattered robes, and had a tendency to stare at students for far too long to be comfortable, for things like answering a question right or wrong, doing the work they were supposed to be doing, and handing in reports. A Hufflepuff boy had to be sent to the infirmary once because he had broken down crying. He had to be given a calming solution and was excused from Herbology for two weeks.

The class got started by tending to the plants, watering ones that needed it. Greenhouse 6 was one of the larger greenhouses, and carried an array of dangerous plants. So it wasn’t surprising when a shout came from the other side of the house, followed by loud sobbing and hurried footsteps.

“Keep watering, keep watering, he’s fine! I’ll be right back!” Professor Haywood shouted, hurrying the boy, who had been bitten by a Fanged Geranium, out of the greenhouse.

“Hey, Michael…”

“Yeah Ray?”

Ray doesn’t respond, and Michael looks over to see him staring at a tall Gryffindor with a mess of black hair. Joel Heyman was supposed to be in 6th year, but had gotten a poor all but one of his OWLS, causing him to repeat the year. Ray had always idolized him because not only was he the only kid in his first 5th year to get an Outstanding on his Potions OWL, but he was also the Quidditch captain that year, and the best Seeker since Harry Potter, or so everyone says. Michael wasn’t really a fan of Quidditch, but Ray had dragged him to every match since Joel had made the team in his 4th year, though Michael was positive it wasn’t Ray’s love for the game.

“Dude, why don’t you just fucking talk to him?”

Ray looked at him with an expression of shocked horror that was so genuine Michael burst out laughing. When he finally calmed down Ray was glaring at him. He smirked, grabbing his friend by the shoulder and pushing him down the aisle and directly into Joel’s back, almost knocking the taller boy into the Mallowsweet he was watering.

Ray staggered back, turning to yell at Michael, finding his friend gone. He heard a strangled noise from behind him, turning again to see Joel staring at him with a flushed face. They stared at each other for a moment before Ray came to his senses.

“Oh my gosh I am so, so sorry! I- I didn’t mean to run into you, it was my friend, he pushed me, I just-“

“No! No, I mean, it’s ok-”

“Are you sure? Cause I almost pushed you into that plant and-“

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure!”

“I just, he was, and…”

Ray trailed off, staring at his feet. He knew he was blushing, and he really just wanted out of the situation.

“Um… Yeah, I should probably-“

“I’m Joel.”

Joel held out his hand for Ray to shake. Ray stopped looking for Michael and turned, staring at the boy.

“I know.”

Joel blinked at him.

“No! No I mean like, you’re the Quidditch captain, and our Seeker, and I’ve seen every one of your games and you’re amazing, and-“

Joel started snickering at this point and Ray realized what he had just said.

“Uh, yeah. I’m Ray.”

He quickly shook the taller boys hand. It was slightly damp and had soil on it from catching himself on the plant when he fell.

“I know.”

Now it was Ray’s turn to blink.

“I just, well, I mean, you’re one of the smartest 5th years there is, and you’re marks in this class are better than anyone ever. Who doesn’t know you? I mean come on! You’re Roses Ray!”

If possible, Ray blushed even harder at the nickname. It had been given to him in his second year when he had rambled on for 3 minutes about the magical properties of different colored roses. A Slytherin had called him Rose the next class, and Roses Ray just ended up sticking. He hadn’t realized that he was known for that all over the school, and the fact that Joel had actually heard of him made his heart speed up.

“Um, yeah, that’s… that’s me.”

“Hey so um… Are you going to the Quidditch match next Saturday? First one of the year, and against Slytherin… Should be a good one.”

“Oh of course! Wouldn’t miss it!”

“Great! I mean… Maybe I’ll see you in the stands?”

“I’ll be cheering for you! You guys are gonna do great!”

“Thanks Ray! I should probably get back to, um…”

“Yeah, yeah, Professor Haywood will probably be back soon…”

“Yeah. Well, um, see you!”

“See you!”

Ray walked away, slowly letting the smile show itself on his face. First day of class and he had just gotten noticed by the Quidditch captain? Not bad at all.

 

Michael shoved Ray into Joel, sprinting around the corner and watching, snickering from behind a plant as Ray looked for him and then started to talk to Joel. After two years of gawking at him from the stands, Ray was actually speaking to the guy. Progress!

“Well Michael, I thought that it was your laughter I heard from over here.”

Michael jumped, spinning on his heel to lay eyes on his one and only object of distain. Slytherin Gavin Free stood on his toes, smirking at Michael. His green eyes sparkled with mischief and mirth, his smirk turning into a full-blown grin when Michael glared at him.

Gavin was the Keeper on the Slytherin Quidditch team. His grades were good, he was athletic, he had wild hair and a lean, broom-riding body. AKA, he was the object of affection for almost every girl and half of the boys in the school, Slytherin or not. And for some reason, this god had decided when he got on the train in his first year that he was going to set his sights on the fiery tempered Michael Jones, and he hadn’t laid off since.

I mean, one could understand why in most ways. Michael wasn’t ugly in the least. He was just under broad, with unruly auburn curls and delightfully pale skin. He was hot tempered and had had to be ushered out of classes on a few occasions. He had also sent more people to the hospital wing than anyone else in the school. But why the Slytherin Keeper was so infatuated with the hotheaded Gryffindor, no one could figure out.

And it wasn’t like the blond was trying to hide it. He was more than obvious about it; he practically hung off the boy any chance he got! Everyone in the school knew! Except for Michael that is. He simply saw it as “He’s just trying to annoy me.” No one but Ray, Gavin, and Gavin’s best friend Barbara even realized that Michael didn’t know. The one time Ray had brought it up, Michael had blown it off with a “How the hell could he like me Ray? I beat him up half the time and he’s been dead set on making the duration of my school life a living hell!” Needless to say, Ray hadn’t brought it up again. He had known Michael long enough to know when his mind wasn’t going to be changed.

“Fuck off Free, I’m not dealing with your idiotic ass today.”

“Aww, but Michael, I might get the impression that you don’t like me!”

“What was your first clue ass wipe?”

“Well, it was probably when you yelled at me on the train in first year calling me a- what was it? It was very eloquently put um… Oh yes! A “Platinum shit bagging fuck stain splattered across the face of humanity.”

“It was a rhetorical question, but yes, I still find that a very good description of you.”

“Aww, Michael, now you’ve really gone and hurt my feelings!”

“Now, you see, I would worry about something like that, if I actually gave a shit about you. But hey, good thing I don’t.”

“Now Michael-“

“I swear to Christ, if you finish that sentence with ‘that’s not a very nice thing to say’, I am going to castrate you in your sleep and feed your manhood to the gamekeeper’s griffon.”

Gavin blinked at him once before laughing.

“Well Michael, you certainly have been working on your threats this summer! I almost believed you for a moment there!”

Michael threw his hands up, rolling his eyes and sighing at the possibly brain damaged moron in front of him. As he turned his head to the side and away from the laughing moron in front of him, he caught sight of Ray walking around the corner with a dazed smile on his face.

“Ah, well, so sorry Gavvy, but I have to run. See you never, hopefully!”

He practically ran from the Slytherin, grabbing Ray by the elbow and dragging him down the aisle and around the corner.

Gavin watched them go, sighing, his face flushed and his heart fluttering at how Michael had called him Gavvy. A nickname. A nickname that didn’t involve fuck, shit, or anything else offensive or insulting. A nickname that, said with however much disdain, was the closest Michael had ever been to talking to Gavin without being mad at him or insulting him. He watched the spot where the two Gryffindors had disappeared until he heard footsteps behind him.

“I don’t get why you don’t just tell him.”

Gavin sighed, turning around to face the blonde girl who was standing there, one side of her green and silver scarf about a foot longer than the other side and her arms crossed over her chest.

“C’mon Barb, you know almost as well as I do that if I tried to do anything like that, he would knock me out before I even got a chance to explain. It’s better this way. I mean, at least this way he still talks to me.”

Barbara hated seeing her best friend look so dejected. He could have almost anyone he wanted in the whole school and he had to go and settle on the one guy who couldn’t stand him. What was she gonna do about it though? It wasn’t like she had any control over the situation.

“I’m sorry Gav. I just hate seeing you like this. He really isn’t worth your time.”

“That’s the thing though Barb. He is. He’s the only one who is.”

Though she didn’t understand his reasoning behind that, she decided to stop pressing him about it. She placed a hand on his shoulder, grinning at him and holding up her squirt bottle, a finger hovering on the trigger.

“Wanna go soak the Gryffindor girls who’ve been standing in the corner the whole time?”

Gavin looked up at her, a smile, then a smirk gracing his features. He held up his own bottle, spraying the air once experimentally.

“Let’s do it.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Ray, why do we have to go? It’s not like we’re gonna lose to Slytherin anyways, are chasers are the best in the school and their Keeper sucks shit!”

Ray sighed, absolutely tired of Michael trying to get out of going to matches.

“Come on Michael! It’ll be fun! Not to mention, you’re my only friend, and I am not going to this alone.”

Now it was Michael’s turn to sigh. Ray didn’t bring up the “You’re my only friend because you scare off everyone else and I’m not going to ditch you” thing very often, but when he did, it meant he really wanted what he was asking for. So Michael continued to trudge across the leaf-laden lawns towards the Quidditch pitch.

They got seats on the end of the row by the Slytherin goals, talking about their potions assignment until the rest of the students had filed into the stands. By the time that Mister Burns had called for the Gryffindor team to head onto the field, most of the stands were full and Michael was ready for it to be over.

Ray stood up and shouted next to him when the team came onto the field, sitting down again when Michael shot him a look that said “Really?” Joel was at the back of the pack, and he ran towards the stands, holding his broom over his head and shouting out, getting the stands riled up.

Then the Slytherin team entered. Most of the team was walking with their heads high and their backs straight, brooms hanging from their hands. Gavin entered last, broom held behind his neck by both hands and a saunter that had the entire Slytherin stands cheering even harder than before.

The two teams stood lined up. Chris, Captain of the Slytherin team, shook hands with Joel. The two teams mounted their brooms, kicked off, and the match started.

Michael zoned out for a while, but was brought back to the match by groaning from around him. He looked up, watching the Gryffindor chasers as Gavin caught one, two, three shots towards the goals. The Slytherin team seemed to be doing great actually, as a score of 50-0 was spoken over the loud speaker.

“And Demarais passes to Farmahini, who passes to Gibson, back to Demarais, back to- Oh, and Shawcross makes the steal! Shawcross throws it to Luna, who throws to Oum, back to Shawcross, back to Luna, Luna’s heading toward the goals, oh, it’s to the left and- oh, Free makes the save!”

The Slytherins cheered, and the Gryffindors groaned. All in all, Gavin was doing a lot better than he usually did, and Michael wondered if he had been practicing over the summer. Then he wondered why he had thought that, shaking his head and focusing on the match again. He watched Joel fly around up high for a while before focusing on their chasers again.

Just as he looked up, Shawcross was taking a shot at the goals. The quaffle looked like it was going to go in, but at the last second a silver glove snapped out and grabbed it by the fingertips. The Slytherins went nuts, and Gavin held it up and did a victory bow.

Gavin straightened up, throwing the quaffle to Brandon and glanced into the Gryffindor crowd. Among the booing, annoyed faces, there was one passive one right at the end of the row. He looked closer and saw a mass of brown curls and a face staring right at him.

“Michael,” he whispered out loud, watching as Michael’s eyes narrowed and his lips spelt out “Gavin.”

The staring contest took no more than thirty seconds, but he was brought back to his senses when the rest of the Gryffindors stood up, cheering. He looked around confused, until he realized that in those thirty seconds Luna had managed to grab the quaffle and score in the goal no more than 4 feet away from him.

Chris flew over to him. “What was that Free?! You didn’t even try to stop it! You just ruined our chances of a perfect score!”

“Sorry mate. Won’t happen again.”

Chris shook his head, flying off and calling the game back on. The quaffle was immediately to the other side of the pitch, the team taking no chances of another point being scored.

Gavin looked back into the Gryffindor crowd. The fans were at least glad that if Slytherin won, they weren’t going down with 0 points. He scanned the crowd until he found Michael again. The brown haired boy was already watching him, and when he caught his gaze, he full on smirked. Gavin looked back to the field, glaring and muttering “Cheeky little bitch,” under his breath.

The game kept going and Gavin didn’t miss another save. They were up 90-10 when the announcer (JJ’s) voice started to get excited.

“Oh wow! It looks like Heyman has caught sight of the snitch! Well, he’s definitely seen something all right! Ah, Dunkelman’s seen it too, but is she going to be fast enough? Doesn’t look like it! Oh, McCormick sent that bludger right over his head, that would have hit if he hadn’t swerved! It almost looks like… No… Yes… Yes… and… He’s got it! Heyman has got the snitch! The match is over! 160-90 Gryffindor!”

The Gryffindor side was going nuts, but Gavin just shook his head, landing on the pitch and heading to the middle. He wasn’t happy about losing, but it wasn’t like he had really expected anything else. While he was a great keeper, and Barb was the second best seeker in the school, she couldn’t beat Heyman, and that was really all that ended up mattering.

The two teams shook hands. Ward, the Gryffindor keeper, half gushed at his skills. He just laughed it off, telling her “Well, you aren’t half bad yourself seeing as the Slytherin chasers are better than the Gryffindor ones!” and then winked to show he was joking. He didn’t really understand the obnoxiously competitive side of Quidditch. He just loved the game itself, not the hateful comments and rigorous practice schedules. And ok yes, maybe he did like the fans and the attention, but hey, who didn’t?

He went to the showers, cleaning up and changing before heading back up to the school. Barbara caught up with him halfway there.

“I can’t believe I missed it! It was closer to me than it was to him and I couldn’t fly fast enough to get it! I don’t get why Chris doesn’t just kick me out, I’m such a disappointment, god!”

“Barb, calm down! It was closer to him in the first place, I saw it, and Chris doesn’t throw you out because you’re the best seeker Slytherin’s had since Malfoy!”

“But I can’t beat Heyman!”

“Maybe not, but it’s not like we’ve lost to Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw since you got on the team!”

“Yeah but-“

“No buts Barb!”

She looked at him, smirking. “Not even Jones’?”

He flushed, shoving her. “Screw you.”

She laughed and they continued walking. “So once dinner’s over, we gonna go clean our brooms?”

He warily looked at her and she rolled her eyes. “No, I did not mean that dirty, as I don’t even have a ‘broom’.”

It was his turn to laugh now. “Yeah, that sounds good then.”

They walked through the doors and into the great hall, setting their brooms down as they sat at the Slytherin table. The Slytherins around them smiled and waved. They always stuck by their own, especially after a loss.

Someone walked by and patted Gavin on the shoulder. He turned, catching Kara smiling at him. “Good game Gav! You made some spectacular saves out there today!”

He grinned back at her. “Thanks Kara. You did great too! I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a bludger hit someone as hard as that one you sent at Zech!”

Kara walked away, waving as she went. Gavin, Barb and the rest of the team finished eating. Gavin was done first. He told Barbara that he’d meet her in the common room and left, walking down the hall towards the Slytherin dorm. He saw someone coming towards him and squinted in the darkness.

“Good game today Free.”

He sighed. Michael’s voice was as sarcastic as ever. “Thanks Jones. Although, I did save most of them.”

“Yup. But not all of them.”

“Not my fault I was distracted.”

He hadn’t meant to say that. His eyes widened, and he was suddenly glad about how dark the hall was, as he was most definitely blushing now.

“Oh yeah, what were you distracted by? The nose blocking half of your vision?”

Michael laughed. He knew exactly what had actually distracted Gavin, but he decided to play stupid.

“Well, have a fun night loser!”

Michael walked away. Gavin was left standing there, apparently alone. He stared after Michael, sighing embarrassingly wistfully. He jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder, almost smacking Ray with his broom when he turned to look at him.

“Don’t worry about Michael. He treats everyone like that.”

Gavin attempted a smile. “It doesn’t matter. Why would I even care what he thinks of me?” He laughed unconvincingly, wincing at how pained it sounded.

Ray raised an eyebrow, nodding slightly. “It’s ok dude. I think everyone who knows you except Michael knows at this point.”

Gavin stared at him for a minute. Ray was shorter than him, probably even shorter than Michael. He had glasses, dark hair and a lithe build. He honestly looked like he belonged in Ravenclaw. He knew he knew the kid from somewhere…

“Oh! Your Roses Ray aren’t you!”

Ray sighed. “Yes. Yes I am.”

“I knew I recognized you from somewhere!”

“Really? And Roses Ray is what you came up with? Not the fact that I’m in your year, in you Herbology, Muggle Studies and Potions classes? Not even that I’m Michael’s best friend!?”

Gavin blinked. “Well I thought those were obvious.”

Ray stared at him for a moment before sighing.

“Well, anyways, don’t get too bent out of shape about Michael, alright? He doesn’t really hate anyone, he just kind of has a large dislike for the entirety of humanity and takes it out on people who talk to him.”

Gavin laughed. “I suppose that is a pretty fair description of him.”

Ray smiled at him, patting him once more on the shoulder before running off after Michael. Gavin smiled a bit as he watched him go. Maybe Ray wasn’t too bad after all.

He started down the hallway again, already planning on what care treatments to use on his broomstick.


	3. Chapter 3

“Michael, you can’t just go into the Three Broomsticks alone on Valentines Day.”

“Says who? And besides, I’m not alone. You’re with me.”

“Let me rephrase that: You can’t go into the Three Broomsticks with your best friend and not a date on Valentines Day.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s full of sappy couples and heart decorations and half of the drinks have love potions in them.”

“Aren’t those illegal?”

“Only the strong ones.”

“… I’m not going to ask how you know that.”

“We learned that in potions two years ago.”

“And you remembered it because?”

“We made them. And they require Dittany leaves in them, so-“

“I’m going to stop you right there because, A, I don’t need you going off on a plant tangent, and B, we’re here.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

They entered the pub, the warmth welcome after the trudge through the snow from the castle. Ray went to order them both drinks while Michael went to get the two of them a table. The red head sat down, trying not to look at all the heart decorations and gushy couples spread across the room. Someone sat down across from him and a Butterbeer was slid to him over the table. He picked it up and took a sip.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime, love.”

Well that most certainly wasn’t Ray. Michael turned quickly, staring at the boy smiling at him.

“What do you want, Free?”

“Oh, nothing much. Maybe just a nice chat with a friend?”

“Well, in that case why don’t you go find Dunkelman? I’m sure she’d love to have a nice chat with you.”

“I was thinking of a different friend actually.”

“Oh cut the crap, Free. We aren’t friends.”

“Now Michael, you’ll hurt my feelings if you keep talking like that.”

Michael rolled his eyes, taking another sip of the bottle in his hand as he looked around for Ray. Said Gryffindor was currently sitting at a different table, laughing at something that the boy across from him had said. The boy was Joel Heyman, so Michael guessed that Ray wasn’t going to be over to save him anytime soon.

“Fine. What do you want to talk about?”

Gavin’s eyes widened. Apparently he hadn’t actually expected Michael to talk to him. Wonder why.

“Well… What’s your favorite color?”

That caught Michael off guard. Out of anything, that was probably one of the things he had least expected to come out of the blonds mouth. Gavin was mentally bashing himself. Favorite color? What kind of a question was that?

“Red.”

Gavin blinked at him and Michael rolled his eyes again.

“My favorite color is red. Cliché for a Gryffindor, but hey, what can I say.”

He took another sip of his drink, turning in his chair to face Gavin before continuing.

“What’s yours?”

It took Gavin a moment before he could reply. “Blue. Well, teal actually.”

Michael nodded. “Not a bad color.”

He glanced over at Ray again, catching sight of him and Joel in a deep conversation. Ray’s Butterbeer started frothing over onto his hand and he jumped, the two of them quickly grabbing napkins and beginning to clean up the mess. Michael didn’t realize he was smiling until Gavin spoke again.

“You two are really close aren’t you?”

Michael nodded. “We’ve been friends for a long time.”

“I don’t get why he doesn’t just ask him out.”

“What?”

“I mean, that’s pretty much all anyone on any of the Quidditch teams is talking about.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I mean, Captain of Gryffindor Joel Heyman and Herbology master Roses Ray?”

“Herbology master. Really?”  
“Hey, I got that part from Barbara.”

“Nice.”

They both chuckled before Michael spoke again.

“You got anymore questions for me?”

Gavin turned to him, catching his smile and returning it.

“I’m sure I can think of something.”

—-

“I’m telling you, get your ass over there!”

Ray shoved the two bottles of Butterbeer into Gavin’s hands and shoved him towards the table Michael was sitting at. He watched as the blond sat down and gave Michael his drink, the red head not even looking up to see who gave it to him.

Ray shook his head, turning around to order another drink for himself when someone bumped into him. He turned around to yell at them when the person’s face came into focus.

“Oh, so sorry! I guess I wasn’t watching where I was- Oh. Hi Ray.”

“Hey Joel.”

Joel looked around, spotting Gavin and Michael sitting together. “You here alone?”

“I am now.”

Joel chuckled, ordering two Butterbeers. “Care to join me?”

“You aren’t here with anyone?”

“I am now.”

Joel smiled, grabbing the two drinks and ushering Ray over to an empty table. Ray laughed as he sat down, taking one of the bottles from Joel and taking a sip.

“So why didn’t you bring someone with you?”

“Honestly? I did get asked by a few people if I wanted to spend the day with them.”

“And you said no?”

“I was hoping to meet someone here.”

“Oh really? Who’s that?”

Ray took another sip of his drink.

“I’m sitting with him.”

Ray stared at Joel’s smile, processing what he had just said for a moment before he felt his face and his hand heat up. He knew that he was blushing, but when he looked down he also saw that his drink was overflowing and spilling onto his hand. He reached out, quickly grabbing a handful of napkins at the same time as Joel did and quickly began to wipe up the mess.

“Well, um, I’m glad you found who you were looking for.”

“Me too.”

Ray was trying to think of something else to say when the two heard laughing from their left. They looked over to see Gavin and Michael laughing. Ray smiled, happy that his little plan had worked.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t asked him out yet.”

“What?”

“Just saying. I mean, its kind of what everyone is talking about at the moment.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah! Slytherin Keeper “Ladies Man” Gavin Free interested in hot headed Gryffindor Michael Jones?”

“… What?”

“I heard it from Lindsay.”

“That makes a lot more sense.”

—-

“So how did your date go?”

“Date?”

“Yeah. With Joel. I saw you two leaving the Three Broomsticks and then didn’t see you again.”

“Oh. Well, A, it wasn’t a date, and B, we just went to a few stores, nothing big.”

“He get you anything?”

“… No.”

“What did he get you?”

“… Just some chocolates. How about your date?”

“Date?”

“Yeah. We saw you and Gavin two hours after we left the pub, heading into Zonkos.”

“We weren’t on a date. We just hung out for the day.”

“You had drinks and went shopping with him on Valentines Day. That counts as a date Michael. So what did he get you?”

“Nothing.”

“Michael.”

“Just some candy and stuff, nothing special.”

“Then what’s that sticking out of your bag?”

“Nothing!”

“Is that a stuffed bear?”

“No!”

“Are you kidding me? He actually got you a stuffed bear? Oh man, that is priceless!”

“Shut the fuck up Ray! Your boyfriend got you a bouquet of roses and you’re laughing at a bear.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Yet.”

“Oh shut up Michael.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Tell you what: You drop the Gavin thing, I’ll drop the Joel thing. Deal?”

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call him by his first name.”

“I can’t believe your boyfriend bought you chocolate roses-“

“Fine, deal, deal!”

“That’s what I thought.”

“Just go to sleep asshole.”

“Night Ray.”

“Night.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I can’t fail this Barbara, I just can’t!”

“I know Gavin. Calm down. You know for a fact that there’s only one person that can teach you what you need to know for the potions final, and that’s-“

“I can’t ask him! We haven’t spoken since Valentines Day!”

“All the more reason to talk to him. Hey Jones!”

“Barb, what are you-“

“What, Dunkelman?”

“Would you mind tutoring our hopeless Keeper in the fine ways of potion making?”

“Is that your way of asking if I’ll teach the idiot how to be less of an idiot?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”  
“I’m right here you know.”

“Well, I guess I could help the moron.”

“Sweet! Catch up with you later Gavin!”

Barbara was out the doors of the library before the blond could say anything. He stood there, awkwardly shuffling his feet until Michael sighed, pushing out the chair next to him and motioning for Gavin to sit down. “Let’s get this over with.”

Gavin sat nervously, grabbing his book from his bag and opening it. They worked silently for a while, Gavin only having to ask for help twice. Eventually the blond got up the courage to ask what he had wanted to since Valentines Day.

“Did you keep it?”

Michael looked at his over the tops of his glasses. “Keep what?”

“The bear.”

The red head looked down, focusing on his paper again. Gavin took it as a sign to be quiet; what had he been expecting? He had taken Michael on a date and then hadn’t worked up the courage to talk to him again for three months. He hadn’t exactly been expecting a friendly welcome.

“Yeah, I kept it.”

Gavin blinked. He had?

“You did?”

“Yeah.”

The blond couldn’t keep the smile off his face and he looked up to see Michael blushing slightly. Maybe he should have spoken to him sooner.

“But just because I kept it doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook for ignoring me for three months.”

Yeah, he really should have spoken to him sooner.

“Look Michael, it’s just that-“

“No, ok? I don’t care what it was. I don’t care why you ran off and focused on Quidditch and decided not to speak to me through any of our classes together. I didn’t even notice.”

He had obviously more than noticed. Michael went back to his paper, ignoring Gavin as the blond opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, trying to come up with something to say. Eventually Gavin tore out a piece of paper, scribbling something on it and practically throwing it on top of Michael’s work before standing and quickly leaving the library.

Michael blinked as the doors closed behind the blond. He looked down at the paper, the top half covered in a large, messy scrawl.

“Meet me by the big oak at the lake tonight before dinner.”

\---

Michael had had half a mind not to go and meet with Gavin. Luckily, he had followed the half that told him to go, so there he was, walking silently across the grass, the sunset warming his back as he approached the blond, who appeared to be talking to himself while throwing rocks into the lake. As the red head got closer he could make out the words the other was saying.

“Stupid idiot. I can’t believe this. Of course he wouldn’t come; what the hell was I thinking. As if he would actually take the time to come down here and talk to me. If I were worth his time-“

“Ehem.”

Michael coughed as nonchalantly as he could, but the sound still caused Gavin to whip around, a blush now evident on his face.

“Oh! Michael!” The blond rubbed the back of his neck, not making eye contact with the Gryffindor. “How long have you-“

“Long enough.”

“Ah.”

Gavin blushed deeper. “Well then I guess you know why I wanted to meet with you.”

Michael blinked. “Ok, maybe not that long.”

“Oh.”

They stood there awkwardly for a moment, Michael staring at the shimmering water behind Gavin and the blond trying to see the other with the sunset gleaming behind him. After a minute Gavin sighed.

“You know what? Never mind. This was a stupid idea.”

“Gavin-“

“I think we should just go back up to the castle.”

“Gavin, wait-“ 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Gavin moved to brush past Michael, not anticipating the red head’s hand jumping out to catch his arm.

“Gavin, wait.”

The blond looked at him, tugging at his arm.

“You asked me to come down here. You obviously have something important to say. So you better not get cold feet now.”

Gavin tugged at his arm a little harder, actually attempting to get away.

“Just forget it.”

“No, I won’t!”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s obviously important!”

“It really isn’t; it’s just me being an idiot.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because if it was just you being an idiot then you would have told me back in the library instead of spending the rest of the day getting up your courage to tell me.”

“Just let me go Michael.”

“Not until you tell me!”

“Tell you what!? Tell you what I’ve wanted to tell you since second year? Tell you what you haven’t noticed no matter how obvious I’ve made it? Tell you why I get so upset when you insult me, and why I-“ He stopped, swallowing and tugging at his captive arm again. “Piss off Michael.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I like you Michael!” He practically shouted it, surprising the red head into dropping his arm.

“I’ve liked you since second year! I like the way that when you’re mad your freckles disappear, and your hair glows in the sunlight, and you laugh at my jokes even when they’re stupid. I like how you talked to me even when you hated me, and how you always stand up for people. I like you Michael. A lot. But you never noticed. You never saw it. I flirted with you, I sent you gifts and notes, and I took you on a date and then couldn’t get up the courage to talk to you again. Ray was the reason I even sat down with you that day. I’ve been as obvious as possible for years, and the only person who didn’t see it was you.”

He turned, trying to ignore how his voice cracked on the last word. He started walking up the hill, at the last second avoiding walking into the path of the Whomping Willow. He didn’t hear the footsteps running behind him until he had almost rounded the corner of the castle.

“Look, I don’t want to talk-“

Gavin was cut off as Michael grabbed his shoulder, spinning around and shoving his face into the blonds’. It was sloppy and painfully, the red head almost missing Gavin’s mouth all together, but he quickly righted himself, bracing his hands on the blonds’ shoulders and squeezing his eyes shut. Both of their faces were red, but Gavin’s eyes were wide open, staring at the other’s face, his freckles disappearing into his blush and his eyelashes peaking out for his clenched eyelids.

The kiss was short lived, and Michael pulled away, panting harder than he should have been as he stared at the surprised look on Gavin’s face.

“I like you too asshole. I’ve liked you since last year. Just didn’t think to say anything.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re Gavin Free. Keeper of the best Quidditch team, ladies man, popular beyond compare. I couldn’t think of any reason that out of all of your admirers, you would choose me.”

Michael was looking down at this point, and he was caught by surprise when Gavin’s hand went under his chin, tilting his face upwards and planting a small pecks on his lips.

“Michael, why would I choose anyone but you?”

Michael smiled despite the cheesiness, shoving Gavin lightly and chuckling. “You smooth motherfucker.”

Gavin grinned back. “Yeah, well y’know.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I swear it! She looked like she was going to vomit!”

“Well I don’t blame her! I mean, I can’t really see anyone being happy with being kissed by Farmahini, even for a dare.”

“Well, except maybe Demarais.”

“Yeah, but the boyfriend’s a given.”

Gavin was still laughing at the thought of Barbara’s face when it had happened at the end of year party. Joel and Ray were in a deep discussion about whether Chris would have been better off with Jordan rather than Brandon. Michael was staring out the window, a smile on his face despite how hard he was trying to pretend he wasn’t listening to them all.

The train ride to Platform 9 ¾ had seemed rather short, as it was the first time that Gavin hadn’t been with the Quidditch teams and Michael hadn’t been alone with Ray. They arrived at the station, hopping off the train with their trunks ready. Ray dragged Joel off to meet his parents and sister, yelling back to Michael that he’d write him over the summer. Gavin and Michael waved the two off, looking around for their parents. Michael felt a hand on his shoulder and turned.

“Hey Michael!”

“Oh hey Lindsay! And… Dunkelman?”

“You know, I do have a first name.”

“Barbara? What are you doing with Tuggey?”

“Oh you know. Just seeing my girlfriend off from the station.”

“Girlfriend?” Both boys said it at the same time, causing the girls to laugh.

“Yes guys. Barb and I are together.”

“Oh.” Michael stared at the two, smiling when he saw that they were holding hands. “Congrats!”

“Yeah! Never knew you swung that way, but you made quite a catch Barb.”

That caused Lindsay to blush and Barbara to laugh. “Didn’t I though? Later boys! I’ll write you this summer Gav!”

“Bye!”

“I can’t believe it.”

“Me neither.”

“I mean, they’re cute together…”

“Yeah, but…”

“A Slytherin and a Gryffindor?”

“Exactly!”

“Oh yes, like you two can talk.”

They both swung around, coming face to face with Professor Haywood and Pattillo, the potion’s master. Gavin looked over at Michael, chuckling.

“Yeah, I guess we can’t really say anything, can we?”

Michael smiled back at him. “Fair enough.”

Professor Haywood smiled at them, moving off into the crowd, Pattillo following after him. As they were moving past another couple, Michael managed to catch sight of his parents.

“Well, there’s my folks.”

“You going to take off now?”

“Nah, we got time. They still have to go find David.”

“David?”

“My brother. He’s a seventh year next year.”

“Oh.” Gavin grabbed his hand, smiling. “Well, I just saw my parents too. They have to wait for my sister, so we have a minute, I guess.”

Michael smiled, leaning up slightly to peck Gavin on the lips. Gavin grinned, putting his arms around Michael’s waist and pulling him into a deep kiss. Michael blinked, rolling his eyes before closing them, placing his hands on Gavin’s shoulders. They didn’t move until they heard Gavin’s parents calling for him.

They pulled back, the blond grinning at him. “Minute well spent. I’ll write you, love.”

Michael smiled back, shaking his head and picking up his trunk handle. “I’ll be waiting.”

Gavin turned and ran off, stopping in front of his family. Michael smiled as he watched Gavin’s father pat him on the back, and he waved when the blonds’ mother turned to wave at him. He heard his own family calling out to him, and left, heading towards them. His mother greeted him with a hug, and he looked up to see his father staring after Gavin’s family.

“Who was that boy?”

“A friend.”

His brother then got in on it.

“Then why were you snogging him?”

Michael waved at Gavin as they left the station, turning to face his brother with a smug smile.

“He’s a very close friend.”


End file.
